Rules abided or allowed to slide?

The Northern Bowlers Association’s season ending Bob Guild Championship is Sunday at Del Lanes. It’s at the end of the bowling season calendar for the majority of bowlers and at a time when many are usually thinking of getting out and hitting the little white ball.

I wrote a blog on Wednesday listing all the eligible bowlers so they knew, if they didn’t already, that they were able to participate in the Bob Guild which has a large amount of added prize money ($2,100 for the open division alone). I had a strong feeling that at least one of the bowlers who had not paid their full $15 membership during a tournament they attended would be contacting either me or tournament director Karl Bieber asking if he could come to Del Lanes Sunday morning, pay the difference in what he owed, and be allowed to bowl.

What I did not expect was for it to be turned into a topic of conversation on Facebook with 66 responses so far and counting.

Dismissing a bit of misinformation that was laid out, I am firmly one of those that believes any discussion involving bowling is good for the sport, as people don’t talk enough about the positives in general, and the problems are often only discussed in grumbled mumblings when they would be much better off being debated openly so real change can be put in place to improve things.

To that end, I believe the question offered by a bowler, who had paid $10 while still owing $5 and therefore is not eligible to bowl in the Guild this Sunday, along with the sea of thoughts and opinions offered by others, was in no way a slight, slam, or negative towards the NBA, the tournament director, or any of those involved with the NBA. Conversation is always welcome, and all of it that took place yesterday was done so with good intentions. What it has done is left lots to discuss.

First, without mentioning the name of the bowler in question above who inquired, he is a good guy who simply wants to bowl and was not looking to cause trouble.

For those that did not read the blog I wrote about the rule back on Jan. 28, weeks in advance of the NBA at Sportsman’s Bowl (which itself was negatively received by a competing local proprietor for unknown reasons), here is the rule the NBA has had in place the entire year:

To be a member of the NBA and be eligible for the Bob Guild Championship at the end of the season, bowlers had to bowl in only one tournament and have their $15 membership paid in full.

That was a change from prior years when bowlers had to participate in a minimum number of events (2 to 4 depending on how many tournaments the NBA had scheduled overall during a given season) along with having the $15 membership paid in full.

Tournament director Karl Bieber had made this rule well known in the tournaments leading up to the last two events at Sportmans Bowl and at Olympic Lanes, both prior to each tournament (sometimes telling every bowler directly when they signed up and were paying to bowl) and on the NBA website.

There were a few bowlers who made sure they attended one of those final two events so they could pay the remainder of what they owed for their membership, and there were others that sent the amount they owed to one of those tournaments to be given to Karl so they could be paid in full and be eligible to bowl.

Being USBC sanctioned, Karl has a list of rules each year that he must abide by during the course of the season, and that he cannot deviate from, for the sake of tournament integrity.

Would it be a dire situation if Karl had allowed the bowler above to come to Del Lanes, pay the $5 he owed, and let him bowl? Of course not, but what about another bowler who owed $10? Should he to be allowed to bowl? What about the bowler who had not participated in any of the NBA events all season, should he be allowed to pay $15 on Sunday and bowl? Where do you draw the line?

Further, what about the other 56 bowlers who took the necessary steps and made sure they paid their $15 to be members of the NBA? Is it fair to them to allow those who had not paid to do so after the deadline had passed, rendering the rule null and void?

Tournament director Karl Bieber made his decision, and he is sticking by the rule the NBA has had in place all season. I have read many a comment that indicated that the NBA, by choosing this route, was turning away entries, and tournaments cannot afford to do that. That is one viewpoint, but let me spin it another way.

You need to be an NBA member to bowl in the Bob Guild Championship. If you have not paid the $15 membership fee, you’re not technically a member and therefore ineligible. If rules are in place, they are to be followed, and if they are altered during the season, what teeth does a given rule have, or why have a rule at all?

Most importantly, in all of this is the role of personal responsibility. In the end, it is the bowler’s job to know the rules set forth in any tournament or league they take part in. As was pointed out, when tournament sheets are filled out, many either skip over the rules entirely, or barely skim them, as the main concern is the first place prize, along with how much money is being paid out, while the rest is not of utmost importance at the time of sign up.

The problem arises when the topic becomes significant to a specific bowler, and it is at that point when the rules are paid full attention. Unfortunately, that is quite often at the point when it is too late.

2 Responses

The problem with allowing this person to bowl is then you would have to allow the people who only have $5 of the membership paid to bowl. You can’t say that only the people who have $10 paid can bowl. Obviously the rule is made so that people don’t just show up for the last event. You either have to say no, only full membership paid bowlers are allowed to bowl, or any bowler who has paid full or part membership can bowl, but the people who paid part must pay the remainder at the last tournament.